Village of Dawn: Inner Battles and Victories
by drummerdude1997
Summary: Nick, a boy eager to learn the arts of the elemental kinesises, attempts many techniques from websites. but one day, when he practices in the nearby woods, he is taken to a village that will change his life. R&R PLZ! all review r accepted even flames!
1. Chapter 1

"Ugh!" I shouted to myself. "This damn site doesnt work either! Why can't i learn the elemental kinesises? im starting to doubt this is real." I asked myself these questions a lot of times each day. "Well, this site looks promising," i said as i found a new teacher. "Then again, so did the others, and look where it got me now." My family had no idea that i practiced this stuff, so i had to try this in the woods near our home. I quickly went out the back door and made my way towards the woods. "Ok, so I have to clear my mind, then focus, then visualise." I felt confident. "clear my mind. focus, visualise," i repeated. after 20 minutes of trying, I gave up. "it's no use! This stuff is fake!"

"No. it's not."

"What the- where'd you come from?" I said staring at a man in a robe, with a hood over his head.

"You hhave been chosen, young one."

"Chosen? For wha-" I was cut off when i noticed him making a portal in a rock. "What the hell? How are you doing this?"

"My name is Djuan, and like i said, this stuff is real. Now come, Nick. We have no time to waste."

"How do you know my name?" I asked.

"No time to waste," he said again, grabbing my hand and pulling me in the portal.

I closed my eyes, bracing for any pain i might feel. My body felt like its molecules were dispersing. I felt as if i didnt exist; as if i was just a memory. Then i regained my natural self and opened my eyes. To my surprise, we were in a village. There was a sign at its entrance that read. " Village of Dawn". As i looked towards the village, I noticed four large huts made out of a certain material. One was made out of pure rock, another was made of sea weed and sea shells, another was made from what seemed like ash, and the last one was made of what looked like clouds. I know right? A hut made out of clouds.

"My people," announced Djuan to the village. "We have found what we were looking for!"

A wave of cheering pierced my ears.

"Are you talking about me?" I asked Djuan.

"Yes."

"What do you mean by, ' the chosen one'?"

"You are the one who will lead the earth hut into battle, my friend. The earth hut is our largest and most important hut. It has had many leaders, but aall of them never could get much done. But you, my child, are the one the spirits have spoken of. You are the one who will lead the Earth hut and claim victory in this age's biggest battle."

"What?! But i can't even manipulate the elements yet!"

"Do not worry. You shall learn. The teachers of the earth hut have always been successful in teaching today's masters. You shall be the greatest of all geokinetics."

Me?, i thought. A leader?


	2. Chapter 2

I was stunned. "So lemme get this straight," I said. "You're saying that I'm supposed to lead the earth hut into some huge battle and win?"

"Correct," said the monk.

"And how exactly do you expect me to do that?! I'm only 12!"

"You won't be ready anytime soon, young one. But when the time comes, you shall be ready to lead the earth hut to victory. The spirits have spoken , and what the spirits say will happen, shall happen. Now come, my child," said Djuan holding out his hand.

Reluctantly, I grabbed it as he led me towards the hut made out of pure stone.

"This, Nick, is the earth hut. The stone used to make this hut is from the worlds first mountain. What they teach you in school isn't how mountains form. Do you know how mountains actually form, Nick?" asked the monk.

"No, I can't say I do."

"Well, millions of years ago, during the age of the first elemental manipulators, a man had an idea to build an entire town out of stone. The "town" was actually a huge mountain, filled with caves and earth huts. Do you know who made the first mountain, young one?"

"No."

"Well, you did."

What did he just say? How could I have made a mountain millions of years ago when i was born in 1997?

"W-what?"

"The spirit of the man who made the first mountain is inside you. You are his reincarnation, and one of his descendants."

Wow..... was this guy serious?

"Now, come with me into the hut. it is time for you to meet your teacher."

When we went into the hut i saw a man lifting a pebble, displaying it to his class.

"Now remember, the key to this is to believe that it is moving, visualise it moving, and using your chi to make it move. How about we have one of you try it? Hmm..... you! Young man!" he pointed at me. "Now you try!"

"Um... I barely got-"

"C'mon young one! The lessons almost over!"

"Err... ok...."

I walked to the front of the hut and did what the teacher said. Believe, visualise, chi. I kept repeating this, trying to redirect my energy into the stone and make it rise even just a small bit. I tried a few more times, thinking this technique is fake too. But just in case, I kept believing. To my surprise, the stone had risen 4 inches into the air! The other kids in the class had wide eyes and dropped jaws.

"Oh my! You're the first student to ever get this on their first try! Tell me, how long have you been in this class? I've never seen you here before."

"I've only been here for umm..... the past 20 minutes."

The teachers jaw was dropped. "But that's not possible! You haven't even done the chi excercises!" Djuan whispered something in the teacher's ear. His eyes got even wider. "Welcome, chosen child. We have been blessed with a new apprentice, class."

One kid stood up and said," But we've been training here for months! Some of us even years! Isn't it fair if one of us is your apprentice? We're obviously more deserving then that kid!"

"Silence, Marc!" The boy glared at me. I had a feeling we wouldn't get along during my time here.


	3. Chapter 3

Doubts and Hopes:

Obviously, life wasn't gonna be so easy in this village due to the probability of this Marc kid making my life a living hell. During lunch time, I was making my way towars the earth hut table, but when Marc told all the other kids not to let me sit down, a boy from the water hut pulled me into his table.

"Don't worry so much about Marc. He thinks he's the alpha male of the earth hut and thinks he's the earth teacher's rightful apprentice. Hi, I'm Alex," Alex said, holding out his hand for me to shake.

"Nick," I said, shaking his hand. "Thanks for letting me on your table, Alex."

"No problem," he said with a grin. The water cabin was pretty friendly towards me. Well, at least I made SOME friends.

"So, how long have you been here guys?" I asked.

"A few months," said Alex.

"A couple of weeks," said Nicko, another boy from the water hut. "What about you, Nick?"

"A few hours."

"Wait a sec," said Alex. "You're Nick? The chosen child?!"

"Apparently."

"Awesome!" said Nicko.

"So who leads the cabins?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"Hydro-Chaos leads the water hut. He's only 11, but he's really good. Pyro-Chaos leads the fire hut. Aero-Chaos leads the air hut." said Nicko.

"What about the earth hut?"

They looked at each other, then back at me.

"The earth hut hasn't had a leader in a long time. They're currently looking for a Geo-Chaos to lead the earth hut," said Alex.

"I think it's gonna be you, Nick," said Nicko.

"Chances are, it is you," Alex pitched in.

Before I had a chance to say anything, Marc gave me a cold glare that took the words out of my mouth. The look was just so.. evil..... I felt as if i was staring at the devil himself.

"Attention children!" said Djuan over the childrens voices. The room became silent as everyone waited for him to speak. "The Chaoses have an important announcement to make. Geo-Chaos has been chosen."

"Told you," said Alex and Nicko in a whisper.

Marc had a smug look on his face, as if he was expecting them to announce him as Geo-Chaos. three boys stepped forward. One was dressed in a red robe, another in a blue, and another in a white.

"We have chosen the new Geo-Chaos. Although it hurts me to say that there can only be one Geo-Chaos, I must say his name." He said he. That takes all the girls in the earth hut out of the question.

"The new Geo-Chaos is Nick, the chosen child." Marc's face was priceless. I had to hold back laughter, but it was nearly impossible. "We ask that you step up and accept your robe, Nick, as an official Chaos member."

When I stepped up the boys in the white and blue robes gave me a green robe. Green, I thought. The color of earth.

A roar of cheering burst my ear drums as I went back to my seat in the water cabin, though the earth hut students pulled me to their table. I glanced at Nicko and Alex, who gave me an encouraging nod.

"Way to go, Nick!" said one boy.

"That rock lift was awesome!" said another. Everyone kept congratulating me but Marc. All he gave me was that cold glare of his.


	4. Chapter 4

After lunch was over, everyone began to walk back to their huts. As I walked through the doorway, Marc grabbed me by the shoulders and turned me around so i could face him.

"Hey," he said. "The Geo-Chaos position and apprentice position were supposed to be mine. You're really starting to get on my bad side 'oh great chosen child Geo-Chaos'," he mocked. "If u do anything that gets you on my bad side again, you'll be no more. Got it?" I nodded as he let go of me. as he walked away he gave me his cold glare again. That look was seriously getting to me. When i went back to the earth hut, the teacher was in the middle of a lesson.

"Welcome, my apprentice," he said. "Now, as I was saying, to launch a rock, you must first lift it. Once its in the air, visualise the energy your projecting push it or launch it. Do this a couple of times and it should work. Would anyone like to try it?" All eyes were on me.

"umm... no thanks," I said, remembering what Marc said.

"How about you Marc?"

"Sure," he said. As he tried to launch the rock all it did was spin. The entire class was laughing. Although I didn't like him, I felt sorry for the guy. The self-proclaimed alpha male being humiliated in front of his own pack.

"That's enough, Marc. Thank you for trying. Nick, would you like to try?" All eyes were on me again.

"I guess i can give it a go." As I got the rock into the air and attempted to launch it, it flew half way across the room and nearly hit Marc in the head. I'm afraid I can't say it was an accident.

"Very good," said the teacher.

As i stepped back down to my spot, I caught a glimpse of Marc giving me his glare again. I swear, if he keeps making that face, it'll get stuck like that one day. I ignored it and sat down with my new friends in the earth hut.

"Nice job, Nick," said Steven, one of the top students.

"Yeah man, very," said Swamp. Swamp wasn't his real name, just a nick name. He was one of the top students too.

When the lesson was over and the students were dismissed, a messenger arrived with a note for me. This is what it said:

Nick, the Chaoses are having an important meeting. You must join this meeting, for this is a very serious matter. If you fail to accept the responsibility of arriving, your position shall be repossesed.

- Joe aka Pyro-Chaos

PS: The meetings at the big rock in the forest. you can't miss it.

I found the big rock, but no one was there. I then tried knocking on the rock. Immediately after the first knock, the rock opened up to reveal a doorway. As i stepped inside, I found myself in a dimlit room filled with the other 3 chaoses and Djuan.

"Come, Nick," said Djuan. "Have a seat."


	5. Chapter 5

"What'd you call me here for?" I asked as I sat down.

"Well, during our trip to the spirit world, we witnessed many attacks on the spirits. Some sort of magician is conjuring these demons. They appear to be made out of chi. We musn't let the demons cross to the other side, which is here," answered Djuan.

"So what do you want me to do about it?"

"We need you to go to the spirit world with us to find a way to stop them at the source," said Joe. "We aren't gonna force you, since you're still new, but we could really use you. We'll give you til tomorrow to think about it. Dismissed"

As I walked back to my hut, I was surprisd to see Jill, the air apprentice, holding hands with Alek, the fire apprentice. When she noticed me, she blushed and looked away. They did look cute together. Maybe I should go to the forest. A lot more quiet there, I thought.

When i got to the forest, I saw T.T. in the forest, talking to the animals. He didnt seem to notice me, so I decided I should leave him alone.

"You don't have to leave, y'know," he said.

"oh. Hey, I'm-"

"Nick. I know who you are. Everyone's heard of why are you here?"

"Oh... umm......." I couldn't tell him the truth about the chi demons. "Well, it was pretty noisy down at the village, so i decided to ccome here and meditate for a while. You?"

"I don't really like talking to the people at camp. There's nothing really to talk about. Except Jill, cuz she's like a sister to me. So I usually just come here with the animals. They always seem to understand me."

"Oh."

There was somewhat of an awkward silence, so I decided to break it somehow.

"So... why do you have that bowl of water there?" TT looked at the bowl, then at me.

"Let me show you why," he said, getting up from the rock he was sitting on.

He breathed in deeply and closed his eyes. He lifted his arms in a graceful motion, and all of a sudden, the water began to rise. He made it fly over his head, between his legs, and around his hands. Then, he put the water back in the bowl.

"That's what it's for," he said.

I stared at him, wide-eyed. "Does anyone at camp know you can do that?" He shook his head.

"You're the only one. You gotta promise not to tell, man,"

"Why?"

"Because I don't want everyone to look up to me or anything. If people look up to me and I fail them, well, that's the worst feeling ever to me."

I nodded my head. "I understand."

As i walked into the earth hut, many of the students, including the teacher, were in a panic.

"What happened?" I asked.

"No one's seen Marc in a while. He might've been captured or attacked by something in the forest," said the teacher.


	6. Chapter 6

"Huh? Well, where was he last seen?"

"In the forest, standing next to a rock."

Rock? Could he have been following me and listening in?

"What time?"

"Around midday."

So the guy WAS following us. Why would he follow me and what did he hear? Man, if word got out about the chi demons, the village would be in a panic. I can't let that happen!

"I'll go look for him," I said confidently.

"We already sent a search party, but suit yourself."

I began my way towards the forest, when someone grabbed me from behind and pulled me behind a tree.

"Lookin' for me, oh great chosen child?" said a familiar voice that can only belong to Marc.

"Whoa! Dude, everyone at the village is looking for you! Why won't you come back?"

"Because, that isn't my place anymore. You see, 'chosen child' I've gone to the spirit world and cut a deal with these chi demons."

"You know about them?"

"Why else would i follow you, genius? As i was saying, they promised that I would be in control of all earth benders if I helped them take out the village."

"Why are you telling me this? Aren't you afraid I'll tell the village?"

"We can't let that happen, now can we?" As he said this, he gave me his cold glare and began to somehow suck the life out of me. Everything was turning black. I felt weaker by the second. Somehow, and don't ask me how, because I don't know, I got the strength to launch a 2 foot stone right in his torso. BULL'S EYE!

I began to feel the strength returning.

"Not so tough now, are ya?"

"You'll pay for this, you idiot! You have no idea what kind of trouble you just got in!" He began to get up. I reached for him, but he vanished. Where'd he go? I began making my way back towards the village.

"Djuan! Djuan! I have to talk to you! It's important!"

"What is it?"

I whispered everything into his ears.

"Oh no..... it has began sooner than we thought it would. Come, Nick. We must find the other Chaoses."


	7. Chapter 7

As Djuan led me to all the huts to find the others, I felt his body tense. If he was scared, then this must be really bad. How bad though? As soon as we grouped up the chaoses we headed toward the forest.

"Stay quiet," said Djuan. "We don't know if anythings following us." He took us to the big rock ad knocked on it a few times. Then he motioned us to follow him inside. When we got in, the meeting began instantly.

"Nick has brought me terrible news, children. According to him, Marc has chosen to join the chi demons in order to overthrow the camp. It is coming true, I'm afraid."

"What's coming true?" I asked.

"About a decade ago, the spirit foretold of a boy who would join the legions of evil on order to destroy the village. When the boy joins, chaos shall begin to appear and shall wreck havoc everywhere," said Joe.

"We don't have enough people here to defend the entire world obviously," said Malik (Aero-Chaos)

"So we have to destroy the enemy from the source," said David (Hydro-Chaos)

"But what we don't know is, where is their main base? We believe its most probable location is somewhere in the spirit world, but where?" Djuan looked as if he were in a deep state of thought.

"Isn't the spirit world a bunch of realms?"

"Yup," said Joe, who sounded somewhat irritated at the fact that the spirit world was so big.

"I see what you mean."

"We'll have to worry about this later. Right now, focus on your training," said Djuan.

As we walked out of the rock, I decided to relax with Steven and Swamp so we could practice together, since there wasn't a lesson today.

"So Steven, how long did it take you to lift a rock?" I asked.

"Ehh, around 3-4 days. But that was with chi excercises, which you didn't even need," he said.

"Then again, he is the chosen kid," said Swamp.

We walked over to the nearby mountains to train. Best place to practice, according to Steven.

"Hold up guys, I think i hear something!" I said.

"What is it?" they asked.

"I don't know, I just feel like something-" I was cut off when a demon grabbed me by the arms and dragged me into the forest.

"What'd you say you heard?" they said as they turned around.

"What the? Where'd he go?" asked Steven.

"Where are you taking me?!"

the demon looked at me and roared a ear drum bursting roar. It didn't sound like a threatening roar. It sounded like a roar of laughter.

"So this is the li'l chosen one?" he said with a British accent. "How could you have defeaed the general of our army?"

The general? Was he talking about Marc? He pulled me to a tree that was near the base camp of a campfire. He grabbed a rope and tied me to the back of the tree.

"Just wait til the master gets here," he said again.

I felt someone, or something, moving on the other side of the tree.

I craned my neck as far as I could, which was just enough to see that TT had been captured too.

"Psst! TT! What are you doing here?"

"He caught you too?" he sighed.

"What do you think? What's he gonna do to us?"

"I have no idea."

I heard foot steps apporoaching the campfire. Who was coming? Marc and this "master" person?

"CHARGE!!!!!" I heard a familiar voice yell. The footsteps I heard were Swamp, Steven, and Phoenix, a girl from the fire cabin!

Phoenix made a makeshift fire dagger and cut the ropes that tied TT and I to the tree. Once we were released, we all made chi blades and cut the chi demon down.

"Thanks for comin' guys," I said.

"No problem," said Swamp.

"Actually, we do have one small problem," said Steven.

"What is it?"

"Where's the way back?"


	8. Chapter 8

We walked through the ominous forest for a few hours. I was pretty sure we were going the right way a few times, but we were still lost.

"How long have we been walking?" asked Phoenix.

"A few hours. Don't worry though, camp is just this way. I can feel it," said Steven.

We walked for about 20 more freakin minutes til we noticed an all too familiar campfire.

"Aww! Christ man! We've been going in circles!" said Swamp.

"Follow me," said TT, taking the lead. This was the first time he spoke throught the walk.

"You know the way?"

"Just follow me, man," he said to Steven.

Somehow, within 20 minutes, we saw a clearing in the brush. We're near camp! We were welcomed by JIll and Alek making out under the branches of a tree. They didn't seem to notice us, since they kept on tongue wrestling.

"How'd you know it was this way?" I asked him.

"The footprints," TT said as he pointed to some footprints.

"Wait a sec... these footprints don't belong to ANY of us here!"

"Someone was following us!" said Steven.

The only person to came to mind was Marc. So he WAS he general!

"Dammit Marc," I muttered under my breath.

"What'd you say?" asked Steven.

"Forget it, it's not important."

I ran back to Djuan's hut to tell him what happened. Rage filled his eyes.

"How could he do this? The fool actually went as far as to attacking the chosen child?! And even worse, he managed to find a way to sneak demons into the camp!"

"What do you mean by, ' he managed'?"

"You see, the spirits have casted a spell that makes a chi forcefield around the entire village. No one can come inside unless theyre invited. That includes a villagers parents."

OH MY GOD! MY PARENTS!

"MY PARENTS! They're probably worried sick about me!!! I have to get back!" Djuan grabbed my shoulder.

"Relax, my child. You see, time passes slower outside the village. What's been a day for us is only about a minute to the outside world. So you've only been out for about 6 minutes."

"Oh... well ok then," I said with relief. "So you're saying that it's basically impossible for a demon to come in here?"

"Yes, unless the spirits have lowered the strength of the spell. Oh no..."

"What? What's wrong?"

"One of the head spirits might've joined the demon army and is acting as a spy. That's the only way the spell could've been lowered, since it's controlled by the head spirits and God himself. God knows the difference between good and evil, so he wouldn't do that."

"Which spirit do you think turned the strength down?"

"I haven't a clue, I'm afraid."


	9. Chapter 9

"Well, we have to find out which one did this, cuz if we don't the village's defenses will be down, and i don't think we can fend off an entire demon army," I said.

"Do not worry about it right now, Nick. You and the other chaoses shall travel to the spirit world in a few days. But for now, rest," the monk said. I walked back to the earth hut and collapsed on the first bed I saw. There were no beds assigned to a student. They got to choose one if it hadn't already been taken.

That night, I had a dream. Not like any dream I've had before, which usuallly consisted of me doing some parkour and saving people. This dream was different, as if i could see what was happening in the spirit world at the very second.

A large figure in white robes was being visited by a man in a blood red robe.

"We have planned out the attack, my lord," said the man in the red robe. "If we continue to lower the village defenses, we will be able to burn it to the ground in 3 days."

The large white robed figure began to roar, causing the ground to tremble. " THAT IS NOT FAST ENOUGH! I WANT IT DOWN BY TOMORROW!"

The red robed figure began to stare at the ground, as if he looked into the whie robed giants eyes, he'd be incinerated. "Please, my lord! We are working as fast as we can!"

"Silence! You will have that village destroyed by tomorrow, or I'll have to tell the other head spirits of your treason!"

Fear struck the red robed man's eyes.

"Tomorrow it is," he said, walking out of the room. The white-robed giant stared straight at me.

"You believe you can stop us?!" He then struck at my vision, causing me to wake up. Was what I saw really happening?

In the morning, I informed the other chaoses.

"Dammit! So a head spirit IS helping them out!" Joe whispered in a yelling voice.

"We have to do something!" said David, getting out of his seat.

"There's nothing we CAN do right now," said Malik.

"We can go to the spirit world and confront the head spirit," I said.

"Not without Djuan's permission," said Joe.

"Then let's ask!" David suggested.

We got up and asked Djuan if we could talk to him in private. Once we were alone, we told him the plan.

"I'm afraid I cannot let you children go," he said solemnly. "It's much too dangerous."

"Then why don't you come with us?" I asked.

"Because he can't leave the village behind," said Joe.

"But Djuan! We can do this! You've seen us destroy demons before! We could do that a lot more!" David said.

Djuan thought about it for a while. "My answer is still no, children. If the loses a chaos, havoc would spread throughout the village."

I was about to say something, but Joe grabbed my shoulder. "No use," he said.

After lunch was over and I was in my hut practicing, a message arrived for me.

it read: Meet us in the rock. We're gonna go to the spirit world; with djuan's permission or not!

I walked towards the forest, trying to go unnoticed. I saw TT in the woods again, and, despite his good hearing, I managed to sneak by him. It was either that, or he knew i was there and let me be. I hope he doesnt follow me, I thought.

When I got to the rock, I went inside and sat down with the others.

"Now Nick, since you're new to going to the spirit world, we'll walk you through. First, close your eyes and focus. Now, breathe in and out softly and visualise your spirit rising out of you. Next, whilst closing your eyes, visualise a portal develop on the wall. it doesn't matter which wall of the rock. Just pick a wall. Now, visualise your spirit go into th portal. Do not talk anymore if you see a swamp, for you are in the spirit world now. We'll see you in a sec," he said.

I looked around and found myself in a dark, murky swamp. I heard many strange noises aruond me. Twigs and leaves rustling behind me, and I heard footsteps in the muddy water. I felt something swim near me and brush against my foot. As I took a closer look, I saw what it was; a marine chi demon! I quickly made a chi blade and cut the ugly thing down to size. I slashed at his chest until he couldnt move any more. And as for the final blow, I slashed his head off. Since the chi demons are made of chi, it's best not to use bending, cuz they can use their own chi to redirect our bending.

"Guys?" I said. "Where are you?"


	10. Chapter 10

I was completely alone in this barren swamp. No one to help me. No one to find me. Only hing i could think of doing was looking for the others. It might've been a lot easier if I could bend here, but for some reason only chi's allowed in the spirit world. I began to walk around the swamp, trying to see if Joe or any of the others were near. I didnt find them, so i decided it was no use. I began to think I wouldn't ever get out of here, until I saw a familiar face that stuck out from the marsh and murky water.

"TT! How'd you get here?"

"I overheard you guys talking, and I figured you could use an extra hand. Hopefully you dont mind," he said as he shifted his feet uncomfortabley.

"Don't worry, it's fine. If you didn't come, I'd probably be lost here for a while."

"Where's David and the others?"

"We all must've gotten split up on the way here, since I can't seem to find them."

"Well, we might as well look for them. I mean, let's be honest, even with your chi and bending plus mine, we couldnt take a chi demon army alone."

"True that," I said.

We started wandering around aimlessly, looking for any sign of the others. I honestly doubted we'd find any trace of them, until tater found a piece of what seemed to be Malik's robe.

"They're in trouble!" he said.

"We gotta find them fast," I said.

Before we could even get up from the spot where we found the piece of robe, we heard rustling in the trees behind us. In fact, that was the first time i even noticed there were trees here. It's as if they just appeared.

"Get the li'l runt!" a scrapy voice roared. A battilion of chi demons ran out of the trees, with rage boiling in their eyes.

I quickly made a chi blade and chi shield.

"Best if you do the same," I told TT as we went into back-to-back position.

"Think we can take em?" he asked.

"No chance," I said playfully, with a grin on my face. The chi demons surrounded us and began to close in. I slashed them where their chests should be and they immediately faded. BUt with every kill, it seemed as if there was onbe to replace it. I slashed and slashed, decapitating and slicing up at least 20 chi demons, but the amount seemed to stay the same. I did a diagonal slash that went from the top of their shoulder to the hip on the opposite side. Like point A is their shoulder on my right, and it went from there to a diagonal slash to point B, which is their hip on my left. I did the same diagonal slashes over and over, and a couple of decapitations, but they seemed endless.

Finally, when I was near breaking point, they seemed to begin to retreat. They left without a sound or word; they just walked away. What caused them tom leae so casually?

"That was a little strange," I said.

"What?" asked TT.

"They just left without a word. So casually, right after a battle."

"You're right, that was pretty strange. But no time to think about it now; we have to find the others."

We began to walk through the swamp, with mud beginning to fill my shoes. We actually had to stop every few minutes or so just to empty our shoes! My throat was dry. My voice was raspy. Although I tried to hide it, I was tired and thirsty. I looked at TT, who looked the same as he did when he came, but i could tell he needed a drink too.

"Let's stop here," I said.

"Ok."

"We need to find a way to know where they are. We can't find them anywhere," I said.

"Don't you have some way to contact them?"

"Not without leaving the spirit world."

"Dammit," he muttered under his breath.

"Best if we keep moving," I said. "We'll probably cover more ground if we split up. Try to make your way back here in a few hours."

"But how can we tell time? There's no day or night here."

I reached down into the swamp water and grabbed a glop of mud. Hopefully, some magical enchantent or something will make it last a while before the mud dries. I haned TT the glop and grabbed one for myself.

"When the mud dries, find you're way back here," I said.

"Got it."


	11. Chapter 11

I began walking along a river that was connected to the swamp. The water was black like volcanic ash, but it was a river either way. a strange power seemed to eminate from the river. I didn't have time to check it out, since i was still on my mission. After about 13 minutes, I came across a lake, which seemed to be connected to the river. The lake's water, however, was white like chi, not black like ash.

I began making my way towards the river trying to find a way across it, when I heard rustling in the trees to the east. I quickly made my chi blade and raised my guard. A bug that was about one foot long and resembles a dragonfly flew out of the trees and into the distance.

"Just a bug," I said to myself. "A big bug."

I walked towards the trees, hoping there would be a way around the lake instead of through it. The forest was dark, and I couldn't see anything through the thick brush. I began to regret taking this path and tried to find my way back, feeling the mud in my hand.

"The mud's still wet," I said. The trees around me began to move, as if they were running away. The branches shook with great force, even though there was no wind.

_BOOM! _I heard something big fall in the distance.

"What the hell was that?" I asked myself.

I heard the sound of approaching foot steps. The sound got louderby the second. I made my chi blade and a chi shield.

"More chi demons," I thought to myself. I dove behind the trunk of a tree, hoping they wouldn't notice me. it wasn't that I was afraid, it was just that I'd had enough things to hold me back from finding my friends.

suddenly, a cold hand grabbed my shoulder and pulled my from my hiding spot.

"Will ya look at that? It's the 'almighty child'!" said a chi demon, roaring (literally) with laughter.

"How could a twerp like this defeat the gen'rel?" asked another one.

I lunged at the one holding me with my blade, stabbing him in the heart. He disinegrated into white dust. The roars of other chi demons pierced my ears.

I began to slash at them, cutting about 8 down. My diagonal slash sure does come in handy, i thought.

Right before i was about to slash another, a large hand grabbed me by the neck and held me against a tree.

"You've caused the masta enough trouble, li'l boy. You're life ends HERE!" he began choking me, squeezing all the air out of my lungs.

"Help!!!!" I shouted with my last breath. the world began to blur around me, the colors darkening into pitch black. my whole body felt numb.

I heard a blood curdling scream that sent goosebumbs down my spine. A wave of the liquid water began to soak me. The chi demon was carried off by the waves, drowning every last one of them. Who caused this?

I looked behind me, towards the lake, and saw someone lying down in the empty lake whole, face-down.

"Are you okay?" I shouted as I ran towards the body. I grabbed the person and turned them around.

"TT! How'd you find me?!"

He coughed a little before he spoke. "I heard you scream," he said, smiling. I helped him up.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine," he said, panting. That thing he did with the lake water must've drained quite a bit of chi. "How about you?" he asked.

"Fine, thanks to you. Now c'mon! We have to find the others!"


	12. Chapter 12

The forest was very thick, and it was pretty hard to see through all the trees. The only thing that lit the darkness was a small group of fireflies, resting on a tree.

"We're getting nowhere," said TT.

"I know, but we can't stop looking for the other chaoses, cuz, I mean, we basically have no chance of getting to the Mountain of the Great Spirits without them."

"I know, but we don't even know whether we're going back to where we were, or just going in circles. We need some sort of light source."

I glanced up at the fire flies resting on the tree.

"What about them?" I said.

"Fireflies? It would take a lot of them to make this place even barely visible."

"I know it's not much, but at least we have light." I reached up at the tree, being careful enough to not scare the group away. Quickly, I grabbed a fire fly by its wings, but careful enough not to tear them off.

"Just one?" asked TT, souding frustrated.

"Only because you're not getting any."

"Right," he said.

We gathered a couple of fireflies, but we needed a way to keep them from flying away. With my chi blade, I cut a stem of a flower into strips of fiber and tied the flies on my fingers. It seemed pretty crude, but it held.

Even with our new winged lanterns, the forest was dark. We could see a feet in front of us, but barely. Suddenly, I heard a crackle in the distance. It was the kind of crackle a fire makes. Fire.......

"It could be Joe, y'know," TT said, as if he sensed what I was thinking.

"Yeah, but it could be another camp for the demons. We have no other way to find out though, so we might as well- " I was cut off by the sound of quick-paced foot steps approaching. They weren't heavy like the demons. They were light and swift, like that of a human. Joe!

"Guys?! Anyone here?" he yelled from the trees.

"Joe! We're over here!" I cried.

"Wanna elaborate that? Cuz over here is anywhere in this forest." His voice sounded further away, as if we was moving away from them.

"You're going the wrong way!" TT shouted.

"OK, how about now?" he sounded closer.

"Just stay where you are! We'll find you!" I shouted.

"We? Did you find any of the others?"

"No, but TT came along with us secretly!"

There was silence for a moment, but then I heard, "Okay!"

"Just keep shouting! We'll follow you're voice!" shouted TT back.

As Joe shouted words, we followed the source of his voice. We were sure we were close at one point, but we were actually a little far. It took us a while to find him, especially since the fireflies' lights began to dim.

"You guys anywhere near?" he shouted. His voice sounded loud and clear, like he was right next to us.

"I think so!" I shouted, reaching my arms out in front of me, hoping to bumb into him. I felt myself hit something soft like silk.

"Could you hurry up? I think something's touching my chest!"

It was him!

"We're right here."

I felt him jump at the sound of my voice being so near. "What happened? Where are the others?"

"You guys got seperated on the way into the spirit world," said TT. "We've been looking for the rest of you for hours."

"But you only found me," he said with sadness in his voice. He was clearly worried about the others. According to some of the people at the Village, he and the other chaoses acted like they were brothers. They were practically family.

"We'll find 'em," I said confidently. "I promise."


	13. Chapter 13

The three of us didn't know what to do at all. Where should we go? Do we go left or right? Where are the others? Total confusion sucks...

"What if we go up that trail that leads into the mountains?" I suggested. "The Mountains of the High Spirits is bound to be there."

"But we have to find the others!" Joe rebuttaled.

"Well we have no idea where they are!" TT shouted back.

"They may be in the mountains, for all we know. We'll never know unless we check it out," I said.

Joe stared at me for a while, with a contemplated look on his face. After a few moments, he nodded his head, and the journey began. We found a way out of the forest that Joe used to get in. The trail seemed to go on forever, 'cuz we couldn't see where it ended. Joe seemed to not know either, because he "appeared on the trail." 20 minutes into the walk, and we could still see no end to this stupid trail.

"TT," I said. "How long do you think this trail goes?"

TT got down on one knee and put his hand on the dirt trail. He shut his eyes for a moment, and then opened them. His face was suddenly covered in sweat, and he had a nervous expression on his face.

"I can't see where it ends...." he said as he wiped sweat from his forehead.

"What do you mean?!"

"I just... I just can't."

Great... our only human GPS couldn't see how far the mountains were....

"This journey's hopeless," I muttered. I thought no one heard me, until Joe spoke,

"No it's not. You said so yourself that we'd find them, and we will."

"How do you know that? I mean, not to be a let down, but even TT here can't see the way!"

"Because, the 4 chaoses' chi is connected. We're connected by our chi, so if someone is close, the chi belonging to that person gets stronger. If someone dies, their chi fades."

I'm not sure what I said next, cuz I didn't understand exactly how this worked, but I'm pretty sure I said something like," Uhh...huh...."

Eventually, we found ourselves travelling along a river. The river's water was brown and polluted, filled with chunks of what appeared to be ruins of some old structure. We didn't have time to check it out, though, cuz we still had to find the others.

"Well let's see..... mountains are always to the north, so......" said TT as he made a chi ball.

"What are you doing?" asked Joe.

"Making a chi ball. They're somewhat like magnetic energy, so hopefully, it can help us find the way to the mountain, and hopefully, that's not too far."

TT was a pretty smart kid. He knew a lot about the wilderness and tracking. He could find his way north without a compass or the north star. The chi ball spinned in his hands wildly, moving left, then right, then forward, then left again.

"What's it doing?" I asked.

"Finding the strongest magnetic center. That should be the mountains," he replied.

The chi ball spiraled in his hands, then stopped, and pushed it self in front of TT's cupped hands.

"North is that way," I said.

TT nodded at me and said, "Right."

We began the walking all over again. My feet were sore, and I think I got some blisters from that trip. 45 minutes into the walk, and I couldn't take it anymore. With every step, my feet grew heavier and heavier. With each step, it was harder to make another step. I finally just collapsed on my knees.

"You okay?" asked Joe.

"No... my feet can't take another step," I said while rubbing my feet.

"But we have to go to the mountains!" said TT. "Look over there!"

He pointed towards the horizon, and I saw what he was pointing at. The mountains! The high, rocky mountains. Our way into the Mountain of the High Spirits.

I was pumped. The sight of the mountains gave me hope and strength. I got up on my feet, brushed the dirt off my jeans, and walked towards the horizon. The others got up and joined me.

The pain vanished. I couldn't feel the uncomfortable blisters on my soles. All I could feel was the wind rushing across my face. I was running towards the mountains, and I could hear TT and Joe calling to me, telling me to slow down. I didn't, and I don't know why. I just kept running towards the horizon. I tried to stop myself, but i only stumbled and continued running.

Why can't I stop? I thought. I looked back, and saw that Joe and TT were just dots in the distance. Clouds floated overhead. The orange sky soon turned grey. The sunset was covered by clouds. But I kept running. I looked back and saw Joe and TT running towards me to catch up. Why can't I stop? Why can't I wait for them?

Voices rushed through my heads. The voices of demons echoed through my ears. They screamed terrible words that made my ears ring.

"Hopeless!!!!" one hissed.

"Useless!!!!" another screamed.

"Defeat is inevitable!" screamed another.

I finally somehow collapsed, covering my ears, praying to God that these voices would leave. I screamed,"Leave me alone!!!!"

All I heard in reply were mocking laughs, but soon they faded. The sky cleared. And all was quiet. I looked behind me and saw TT and Joe catching up.

"Why didn't you stop?!" TT shouted as he was gasping for air.

"We were shouting at you, but I guess you didn't hear," said Joe, also taking in air.

I heard them, but I ws too ashamed to tell them that I couldn't stop. They'd probably think I was insane.

Then I heard more voices in my ears.

"Hope..." said a soft, gentle voice.

"Useful," said another.

"Victory is possible," said another.

The voices continued to echo in my head, even though the voices had stopped long ago. I got up and walked behind TT and Joe, confident that we'll find them.


End file.
